MODULE 10 – SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF INFANTS AND TODDLERS

Module 10 – Socio-emotional Development of Infants

and Toddlers

“When you’re drawing up your list of life’s miracles, you

might place near the top the first moment your baby smiles at
you… Today, she looked right at me. And she smiled… Her
toothless mouth opened, and she scrunched her face up and it
really was a grin… The sleepless nights, the worries, the
crying-all of all sudden it was all worth it… She is no longer
just something we are nursing and carrying along-somewhere
inside, part of her knows what’s going on, and that part of
her is telling us that she’s with us.”
- Bob Green

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this Module, you should be able to:

 identify social-emotional milestones in infants and toddlers.

 describe the socio-emotional development processes that you went through as an infant
and toddler.

INTRODUCTION
Simply put, socio-emotional development has something to do with the development of a
person's ability to master emotions and the ability to relate to others. It necessarily includes
temperament, attachments and social skills.

Read Nolte’s poem then answer the following questions.

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Children Learn What' They Live

If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn...

If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight...

If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive...

If a child lives with pity, he learns to feel sorry for himself...

If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy...

If a child lives with jealousy, he learns to feel guilt...

But...

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient...

If a child lives with encouragement, he learns tb be confident...

If a child lives with praise, he learns to be appreciative...

If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love...

If a child lives with honesty, he learns what truth is...

If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice...

If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith in himself and those about him...

If a child lives with friendliness, he learns the world is a nice place in which to live.

With what is your child living?

Dorothy LNolte, Trained Family Counselor

1. Based on Nolte's poem, which plays a very important role in the socio-emotional
development of children?

2. From what kind of home environment do children who are well adjusted most probably
come? What about maladjusted children?
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ABSTRACT

The Formative Years

Much has been said about the importance of the first three years in human development.
They are so-called the formative years that is why, parents and other caregivers at this stage of
human development play a significant role in the development of infants and toddlers.
As the poem "Children Learn What They Live" expresses, the kind of home and school
environment that parents and teachers produce determines to a very great extent the quality of
the development of children.
Let us discuss those elements that have something to do with the wholesome socio-
emotional development of children.

Attachment
 For healthy socio-emotional development, the infant needs to establish an enduring bond
characterized by a tendency to seek and maintain closeness to a specific figure,
particularly during stressful situation. This is the social phenomenon of attachment.

 According to Dr. John Bowly, the father of attachment theory, the beginnings of
attachment occur within the first 6 months of a baby's lifw with a variety of built-in
signals that baby uses to keep her caregiver engaged. The baby cries, gazes into her
mother's eyes, smiles, etc. In the next few months, the baby develops in her degree of
attachment to her parents. She smiles more freely at them than at any stranger whom she
seldom sees. This is what Bob Greene must have experienced. (See quote below the title
of this Module).

 The key to a good start in the social development of the baby is a lot of responsive
interaction with the baby (K.Pasek and R.GolinkofT, 2003). Babies thrive on social
interaction when is in response to their social bids, Babies seem to let us know when they
want to interact or not. The timing of the caregiver's response to the baby is important.
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 Other relevant and interesting research findings cited by K.Pasek and R. Golinkoff,
(2003) in their book "Einstein Never Used Classcards" are given below:
 What is absolutely central to babies' emotional well-being is not so much feeding
but the consistent involvement of caregivers. Being fed by your mother is not what
attached you to her. It is consistent, close nurturing that matters in early
relationships.

 Children who have good attachment relationships as infants make better

adjustments in a number of areas in future life. But remember, having a good
attachment in infancy gives you a great start but can't carry you through life. You
have to be treated sensitively and responsibly as you grow up if you are to
develop favorably.

 Infants attach to more than one caregiver and they are developing emotional
relationships with multiple caregivers at once.

 Even when children are in child care for more than 30 hours per week, the family
contributes more to child's social and cognitive well-being than does the child
care arrangement. Parents matter and children are attached to parents even when
children are in child care.

 Parents and caregivers help children regulate their emotions by working with
them and by serving as their models.

Temperament
1. Another factor related to the infant's socio-emotional development is temperament.
Temperament is a word that "captures the ways that people differ, even at birth, in such
things as their emotional reactions, activity level, attention span, persistence, and ability
to regulate their emotions" (K. Pasek and R. Golinkoff, 2003). Every baby expresses
personality traits we call temperament. How a child responds emotionally to objects,
events, and people is a reflection of his individual temperament.

2. Researchers Thomas, Chess, and Birch described nine different temperament categories
(Honig, 2010, Secure Relationships: Nurturing Infant-Toddler Attachments in Early
Care Settings.)
These include:
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 Activity level
 Mood
 Threshold for distress
 Rhythmicity
 Intensity of response Approach-Withdrawal
 Distractibility
 Adaptability
 Persistence

To determine a Childs temperament, make the following observations.

Activity level. Some babies are placid or inactive. Other babies thrash about a lot and, as
toddlers, are always on the move. At this stage, they must be watched carefully.
The mood. Some babies are very smiley and cheerful. Although securely attached
emotionally to their teachers, others have a low-key mood and look more solemn or unhappy.
Child's threshold for distress. Some babies are very sensitive. They become upset very
easily when stressed. Other babies can more comfortably wait when they need a feeding or some
attention.
The rhythmicity of children. Some babies get hungry or sleepy on a fairly regular and
predictable basis. Other babies sleep at varying times, urinate or have bowel movements at
unpredictable times, and get hungry at different times. They are hard to put on a "schedule”.
The intensity of response in each baby. When a baby's threshold for distress has been
reached, some babies act restless. Others act cranky or fret just a little. Still others cry with
terrific intensity or howl with despair when they are stressed. They shriek with delight and
respond with high energy when reacting to happy or challenging situations.
Approach to new situations. Some infants are very cautious. They are wary and fearful
of new teachers, being placed in a different crib, or being taken to visit a new setting. Other
infants’ approach new persons, new activities, or new play possibilities with zest and enjoyment.
Distraction. Some children can concentrate on a toy regardless of surrounding bustle or
noise in a room. Others are easily distracted.
Adaptability of each child. Some children react to strange or difficult situations with
distress, but recover fairly rapidly. Others adjust to new situations with difficulty or after a very
long period.
Child's attention span. Some children have a long attention span. They continue with an
activity for a fairly long time. Others flit from one activity to another.
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Based on these temperament traits, psychiatrists. Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess
studied babies' temperament and clustered temperaments into 3 basic types:1) the easy child; 2)
the difficult child; and 3) the slow-to-warm -up child.
"Easy child" easily readily establishes regular routines, is generally cheerful, and adapts
readily to new experiences.
The "difficult child" is irregular in daily routines, is slow to accept new experiences and
tends to react negatively and intensely to new things.
The "slow-to warm-up-child" shows mild, low-key reactions to environmental changes,
is negative in mood, and adjusts slowly to new experiences.

The Emergence of the Moral Self

A sense of morality presupposes awareness of the existence of moral standards and the
ability to evaluate oneself against standards. Once children can recognize themselves as entities,
they become capable of self-evaluation and self-description against a set of standards. In the
research conducted by Professor Deborah Stipek and her colleagues at the University of
California, Los Angeles, (Pasek, K and R. Golinkoff) about 50% of the 19- to- 24-month old and
80 % of the 25-to-29-months old and almost all 30-to-40-month-olds are capable of self-
evaluation. These age groups of babies therefore have a sense of morality.
Children who aren't capable of self-evaluation and self-description don't have the
capacity to experience a sense of shame and remorse. Moral behavior cannot occur when
children do not recognize themselves as social beings whose behavior can be evaluated against
some standard." (Påsek, K and R. Golinkoff, 2003)
It is not then surprising why some babies show their parents they have done something
wrong sometimes even with laughter or at other times with no particular emotion. It is not
because they are bad babies. It is simply because they are not yet able to hold a standard in mind
and evaluate situations in terms of these standards.

The Development of Emotions

Here are the milestones of the baby and the toddler's emotional development and social
development:
Early infancy (birth-six months)
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 It is not clear whether infants actually experience emotions, or if adults, using adult facial
expressions as the standard, simply pose their Own Understanding of the meaning of
infant facial expressions.

 Between six and ten weeks, a social smile emerges, usually accompanied by other
pleasure-indicative actions and sounds, including cooing and mouthing. This social smile
occurs in response to adult smiles and interactions.
As infants become more aware of their environment, smiling occurs in response to a
wider variety of contexts. They may smile when they see a toy they have previously
enjoyed. Laughter, which begins at around three or four months, requires a level of
cognitive development because it demonstrates that the child can recognize incongruity.
That is, laughter is usually elicited by actions that deviate from the norm, such as being
kissed on the abdomen or a caregiver playing peek-a-boo. Because it fosters reciprocal
interactions with others, laughter promotes social development.

Later infancy months (7-12)

 During the last half of the first year, infants begin expressing fear, disgust, and anger
because of the maturation of cognitive abilities. Anger, often expressed by crying, is a
frequent emotion expressed by infants. Although some infants respond to distressing
events with sadness, anger is more common.

 Fear also emerges during this stage as children become able to compare an unfamiliar
event with what they know. Unfamiliar situations or objects often elicit fear responses in
infants. One of the most common is the presence of an adult stranger, a fear that begins to
appear at about seven months. A second fear of this stage is called separation anxiety.
Infants seven to twelve months old may cry in fear if the mother or caregiver leaves them
in an unfamiliar place.
Socialization of emotion begins in infancy. It is thought that this process is significant
in the infant's acquisition of cultural and social codes for emotional display, teaching them
how to express their emotions, and the degree of acceptability associated with different types
of emotional behaviors.
Another process that emerges during this stage is social referencing. Infants begin to
recognize the emotions of others, and use this information when reacting to novel situations
and people. As infants explore their world, they generally rely on the emotional expressions
of their mothers or caregivers to determine the safety or appropriateness of a particular
endeavor.
Toddlerhood years (1-2)
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During the second year, infants’ express emotions of shame or embarrassment and pride.
These emotions mature in all children and adults contribute to their development.

Emotional understanding
During this stage of development, toddlers acquire language and are learning to verbally
express their feelings. This ability, rudimentary as it is during early toddlerhood, is the first step
in the development of emotional self-regulation skills.
In infancy, children largely rely on adults to help them regulate their emotional states. If
they are uncomfortable, they may be able to communicate this state by crying, but have little
hope of alleviating the discomfort on their own.
In toddlerhood, however, children begin to develop skills to regulate their emotions with
the emergence of language providing an important tool to assist in this process. Being able to
articulate an emotional state in itself has a regulatory effect in that it enables children to
communicate their feelings to a person capable of helping them manage their emotional state.
Speech also enables children to self-regulate, using soothing language to talk themselves through
difficult situations.

 Empathy, a complex emotional response to a situation, also appears in toddlerhood,

usually by age two. The development of empathy requires that children read others'
emotional cues, understand that other people are entities distinct from themselves, and
take the perspective of another person (put themselves in the position of another).
(Source:http://psychology/jrank.org)

Erikson's Psychosocial theory

The first two stages (of the 8 stages of a person's psychosocial development) apply at the
periods of infancy and toddlerhood, that is why they are discussed below:

Hope: Trust vs. Mistrust (Infants, 0 to 1 year)

 Psychosocial Crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust

 Virtue: Hope

The first stage of Erik Erikson's centers around the infant's basic needs being met by the
parents. The infant depends on the parents, especially -the mother, for food, sustenance, and
comfort. The child's relative understanding of world and society come from the parents and their
interaction with the child. If the parents expose the child to warmth, regularity, and dependable
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affection, the infant's view of the world will be one of trust. Should the parents fail to provide a
secure environment and to meet the child's basic need a sense of mistrust will result. According
to Erik Erikson, the major developmental task in infancy is to learn whether or not other people,
especially primary caregivers, regularly satisfy basic needs. If caregivers are consistent sources
of food, comfort, and affection, an infant learns trust- that others are dependable and reliable. If
they are neglectful, or perhaps even abusive, the infant instead learns mistrust- that the world is
in an undependable, unpredictable, and possibly dangerous place.

Will: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (Toddlers, 2 to 3 years)

 Psychosocial Crisis: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

 Main Question: "Can I do things myself or must I always rely on others?"

 Virtue: Will

As the child gains control over eliminative functions and motor abilities, they begin to their
surroundings. The parents still provide a strong base of security from which the child can venture
out to assert their will. The parents' patience and encouragement help foster autonomy in the
child. Highly restrictive parents, however, are more likely to instill the child with a sense of
doubt and reluctance to attempt new challenges.
As they gain increased muscular coordination and mobility, toddlers become capable of
satisfying some of their own needs. They begin to feed themselves, wash and dress themselves,
and use the bathroom. If caregivers encourage self-sufficient behavior, toddlers develop a sense
of autonomy- a sense of being able to handle many problems on their own. But if caregivers
demand too much too soon, refuse to let children perform tasks of which they are capable, or
ridicule early attempts at self-sufficiency, children may instead develop shame and doubt about
their ability to handle problems (en.wikipedia.org.wiki.Erikson's- stages-of. psychosocial-development-)

Infants & Toddlers Social-emotional Developmental Milestones Table

 Knows familiar faces and begins to know if someone is a stranger
 Likes to play with others, especially parents
6 months  Responds to other people’s emotions and often seems happy
 Likes to look at self in mirror
 Is shy or nervous with strangers
 Cries when Mom or Dad leaves
 Has favorite things and people
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12 months  Shows fear in some situation

 Hands you a book when he or she wants to hear a story
 Repeat sounds and actions to get attention
 Puts out arm or leg to help with dressing
 Plays games such as “peek-a-boo”
 Likes to hand things to others as play
 May have temper tantrums
 May be afraid of strangers
18 months  Shows affection to familiar people
 Plays simple pretend, such as feeding a doll
 May cling to caregivers in new situations
 Points to show others something is interesting
 Explores alone but with a parent close by
 Copies others, especially adults and older children
 Gets excited when with other children
 Shows more and more independence
24 months  Shows defiant behavior (doing what she or he has been told not to
do)
 Plays mainly beside other children, but is beginning to include
other children, such as in chase games
 Copies adults and friends
 Shows affection for friends without prompting
 Takes turns in games
 Shows concern for a crying friend
36 months  Understands the idea of “mine” and “his” or “hers”
 Shows a wide range of emotions
 Separates easily from Mom and Dad
 May get upset with major changes in routine
 Dresses and undresses self
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/NCBDD/actearly/pdf/checklist/All_Checklist.pdf

APPLICATION
1. "The hand that rocks the cradle rocks the world." How does this relate to an infant's and
toddler's development?
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2. Have you experienced babysitting your brother, sister, nephew, niece, or do you have
babies at home? What are your experiences in babysitting them? Write your experiences
below.

Yes, I have babysat my sister many times. I have babysat many kids. I love kids and I
guess kids love me. Babysitting someone sometimes brings back your childhood back
to you. You actually think like them and wonder about little things which you might
have forgotten because you grew up and got busy with life. They ask me innocent
questions and I wonder whether I would have done the same thing and it felt good
wondering about it.

I sat with them and drew pictures and coloured many-coloured books. This is like a
Stress-free session for me amidst all the messes of my life. I feel good after spending
time with them. When they do anything whether it is painting or colouring or even
eating their food, they take time, they are never in a hurry, and that just makes me
pause my life for a moment and sit back and relax.

The feeling is just amazing and I guess everyone should spare some time and sit with
the toddlers and relive their childhood.

https://www.quora.com/Did-you-ever-babysit-your-brother-sister-cousin-niece-
nephew-How-was-your-experience
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REFLECTION
Based on stories you heard from your parents and grandparents about your first three
years in the world, reflect on the kind of home environment you have had as an infant and as a
child? How has it affected you?

Reference: Corpuz, B.B., Lucas, M.D., Borabo, H.L., & Lucido, P.I., (2015). Child and adolescent development: Looking at learners at different life stages. Lorimar Publishing,
Inc.